In Moradabad, Police have continued their crackdown against the accused who stormed the house of a Hindu family to abduct their two daughters in an attempt to convert them. When the family protested against their abduction attempt, they opened fire at the family members. As part of the crackdown, Police from Mudha Pandey station on Sunday (30th June) demolished the houses of three more accused. Their names came up during the investigation into the shooting incident that took place on Wednesday (26th June). Earlier in the morning on Sunday, Police arrested two of the three accused following an encounter in which one accused suffered a bullet injury in his leg. However, a head constable was also injured in the encounter and he was hit by a bullet on his shoulder.
Meanwhile, five, including the main accused, are still absconding. Police have launched a search operation to nab them. So far, the Police have demolished six houses of the accused that were built illegally.
Notably, the accused identified as a man named Muslim broke into the house of a private firm employee, Sunil Kumar, in Munda Pandey’s Shivpuri village at around 2.30 am on Wednesday. He was accompanied by his accomplices and they were armed with guns and sharp objects. The accused attempted to abduct two daughters and when the family protested, the accused opened fire and injured the firm worker, his wife, and son.
All the injured were taken to different hospitals for treatment. In this regard, the police had registered a case against the main accused named Muslim, his father Nanhe, two uncles Aleh Hassan and Suleman, and two unknown attackers. As per reports, the main accused Muslim was threatening the family for several days. He had sent a threatening audio message on the mobile phone of the girl’s father. He threatened him stating that he would kill everyone if they didn’t hand over the girl to him.
The accused wanted to kidnap the married girl and force her to convert
According to media reports, the eldest daughter (22 years) in the victim family is married and has a son. She was hit in her hands in the firing incident. The girl stated that the accused Muslim was in contact with her for a long time. However, after marriage, she distanced herself from the accused. But still, on 7th March, the accused took her away from her in-laws’ house and accompanied her to Jaipur, Rajasthan.
According to the victim, the mother of the accused was also there with him. After kidnapping her, the accused said that he would marry her, but he did not. The victim also said that the accused Muslim was pressurizing her for religious conversion.
Further, her younger sister (17 years) stated that as soon as the accused arrived, the first thing the accused did was that they caught hold of her elder sister’s son. As soon as he made a noise, everyone in the family woke up and when they protested, the accused opened fire and ran away.
Following the firing incident, the administration took bulldozer action against the accused in two phases on Friday. On Friday, the administration demolished the house of the main accused Muslim, his father Nanhe, and two uncles Suleman and Aleh Hasan in Shivpuri village.
During the investigation, the names of three more accused in this incident, Mahfooz, a Rampur resident, Bhure Khan, a resident of Bilari, and Yusuf, a resident of Munda Pandey, came to light. Police arrested Mahfooz and Bhure Khan in an encounter in the early hours of Sunday. As per the administration, their houses were built by encroachment and consequently, they were demolished to the ground. All three accused were involved in the incident along with Muslim, the main accused in the Munda Pandey shooting case, and his family members.
According to the villagers, the house of the accused Muslim and his two uncles who committed the crime has been locked for the last several months. They all work in brick kilns, so they often stay outside and for that reason, the villagers don’t care much about his family.
